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The present invention is directed to a system for generating, maintaining and accessing publications that change over time and, more particularly, to a system for producing field service publications typically used by a field engineer to help service a product where each unit of the publication is kept small, generated and accessible using standard systems and uses predetermined file and path names.
Publications that need to be updated periodically, such as a field service publication for a complex product or machine, have traditionally been provided on paper or using custom software. What is needed is a system that will deliver such publications to field service personnel electronically using tools commonly available to today""s computer users.
Field publications typically have relatively long update cycles resulting in publications that are somewhat out of date when the product technology changes rapidly. Such changes are often communicated by phone messages, newsletters and paper update inserts. What is needed is a system that will allow updates concurrent with changes and will allow updates to be made electronically.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system that allows publications that are updated regularly, such as field service publications, to be updated easily and rapidly.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system in which updates are electronic.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a publication in which the units of the publication are small and easily maintained.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a system that allows updates and access to the publications electronically.
The above objects can be attained by a system that includes a publication divided into plural service publication units used by a service technician to service a complex product, such as a copier. Each of the publication units is dedicated to a particular topic, such as an error code, keeping each unit small. Each of the publication units are browser enabled text files, such as HTML files. The units can include special links to at least one of the other publications units where the links are file names within a predetermined path and file naming convention. The publication units are produced with a groupware product and a script associated with the product. The links prior to conversion have the syntax and format {{code,displaylink,description}} where code corresponds to a publication file name without a file type extension, link indicates what should appear in the HTML text and description describes the contents of the file for the author. The HTML files are stored on a service technician""s portable computer and accessible at the site of the product.